stirli pugh: but at the time, 31 b.c. was the earliest dated monument in the new world. obregon: stirling's reading of the date as 31 b.c. woulme that is calendar system predated the classic maya by some 300 years. stirling pugh: well, this caused a lot of consternation among the mayanists. eric thompson, the famous maya epigrapher, wrote a paper about it. he wouldn't speak to us at meetings. obregon: but mexican artist a scholar miguel carruas and ththpologistlfso casoshar srling's view. stling pugh: it was at that time that alfonso caso announced that he considered the olmec the mother culture of mesoamerica and at that time, that just put the olmec on the map, because he was the outstanding mexican anthropologist. obregon: in fact, the origins of olmec art turned out to be far older than even covarrubias, caso and stirling imagined. radiocarbon dating at san lorenzand other olmec sis hapushed back the ginning of olmec culture by more than a milleium, to circa 1,200 b.c. newsreel announc: now we're off for the second phase of our exploration. obregon: stirling beganigg

stirli pugh: but at the time, 31 b.c. was the earliest dated monument in the new world. obregon: stirling's reang of the date as 31 b.c. would mean that is calendar system predated the classic maya by some 300 years. stirling pugh: well, this caused a lot of consternation among the mayanists. eric thompson, the famous maya epigrapher, wrote a paper about it. he wouldn't speak to us at meetings. obregon: but mexican artistndscholars and ththropologistlfso casoar srling's vi. stling pugh: it was athat time that alfonso caso announced that he considered the olmec the mother culture of mesoamerica and at that time, that just put the olmec on the map, because he was the outstanding mexican anthropologist. obregon: in fact, the origins of olmec art turned out to be far older than even covarrubias, caso and stirling imagined. radiocarbon dating at san lorenzo and other olmec sis hapued back the ginning olmec culture by more than a milleium, to circa 1,200 b.c. newsreel announcer: now we're off for the second phase of our exploration. obregon: stirling beganigging at san lorenzo